BUSINESS BRIEFS: Kumitis honored by YWCA's Tribute to Exceptional Women

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

POTTSTOWN — Creative Health Services Inc. announced that Kathy Kumitis, chief operations officer of Creative Health, was recently honored at the YWCA’s annual “Tribute to Exceptional Women” in the “Business” category. Kathy was nominated by Dick Frantz, who served as architect for both of Creative Health’s Robinson Street buildings.

The YWCA’s tribute event information begins with the following text, which seems a wonderful description of Kathy:

In his nomination of her, Frantz wrote, “As the COO of Creative Health, Ms. Kumitis is responsible for helping to create and maintain a positive working environment for all of her staff; roughly 70% of whom are women. She encourages them to accept the opportunities for training and advancement in their positions so that they might achieve their full potential.”

Kumitis was appointed COO of Creative Health in 2008. Prior to that time, she served as the agency’s personnel director. She oversees the work of 200 medical personnel, case workers, counselors, and support staff with an annual budget of $12 million.

National Penn and other participants will address an audience of institutional investors, investment firm analysts and portfolio managers.

The presentation will be available live on to National Penn’s website, at www.nationalpennbancshares.com and choose the “Sandler O’Neill Financial Services Conference” link located on the home page. An audio conference will be available on Nov. 15 at 7:10 a.m. by calling 877-253-8059 and entering Passcode: 7598910510#

The archived Webcast will be available for 30 days beginning Nov. 16.

National Penn Bancshares Inc., with approximately $8.4 billion in assets, is a bank holding company based in Boyertown. National Penn operates 120 branch offices comprising 119 branches in Pennsylvania and one branch in Maryland through National Penn Bank and its KNBT and Nittany Bank divisions.

Limerick pet rescue now online

LIMERICK — Pets Always Well Rescue Medical & Transport Funding, Limerick, has joined other animal welfare organizations in the area that list their homeless pets on Petfinder.com, the oldest and largest database of adoptable animals on the Internet. The site currently has more than 359,000 homeless pets listed, and it is updated continuously.

More than 13,700 animal welfare organizations in the U.S., Canada, and other countries post pets on the site. Pets Always Well Rescue Medical & Transport Funding pets may be viewed at http://www.petfinder.com/shelters/PA844.html.

A potential adopter enters search criteria for the kind of pet he or she wants, and a list is returned that ranks the pets in proximity to the ZIP code entered. Adoptions are handled by the animal placement group where the pet is housed, and each group has its own policies.

Petfinder.com was created in early 1996 as a grassroots project by Jared and Betsy Saul to end the euthanasia of adoptable pets. Since its inception, the site has facilitated approximately 20 million adoptions, making it the most life-saving initiative in animal welfare.

Sponsors include The Animal Rescue Site, BISSELL Homecare Inc., a manufacturer of home cleaning and floor care products, PETCO, a national pet supply retailer that sponsors in-store adoptions and provides coupon books for new adopters, PetFirst Healthcare, the exclusive pet insurance provider for Petfinder.com, Merial, maker of the number one veterinary-recommended flea and tick preventative, FRONTLINE, and heartworm preventative, HEARTGARD, And HomeAgain, a microchip and pet recovery service.

SBA-backed loans strong in eastern Pa.

PHILADELPHIA — The 2012 fiscal year (Oct. 1, 2011 to Sept. 30, 2012) was the third-highest volume year on record for overall SBA-backed loan volume and the highest-volume year ever for the Agency’s 504 Loan Program in the 40 eastern counties of Pennsylvania. Overall SBA-backed loan volume in eastern Pennsylvania was highest in fiscal year 2011 and 2005 was the second-highest loan volume year for agency-backed loans in that region.

SBA’s 7(a) Loan Guaranty Program is the SBA’s primary financial assistance instrument. It provides loan guaranties on business loans to help qualifying entrepreneurs secure financing on reasonable terms. The program operates through private-sector lenders who provide loans. SBA’s 504 Program provides growing businesses with long-term, fixed-rate financing for major fixed assets, such as land and buildings.

Nationally, fiscal year 2012 was SBA’s second highest loan volume year ever, second only to 2011, which saw a boost in the first quarter due to adjustments to Agency financing programs under the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010, including a waiver of fees on SBA’s 7(a) and 504 programs and an increase in the 7(a) loan guarantee from the traditional 75-85% to 90%. National loan approvals for fiscal year 2012 for 7(a) and 504 combined reached $21.8 billion (supporting a total of $30.25 billion loan dollars issued to small business borrowers) compared with $24.48 billion in approvals for fiscal year 2011 (supporting a total of $30.5 billion loan dollars issued to small business borrowers). Since the onset of the Jobs Act boost to SBA loan volume in 2012, a continued growth pattern has immerged in SBA loan volume figures: since January 2011 SBA loan dollars have increased every single quarter, through the end of fiscal year 2012. In the fourth quarter of 2012 SBA averaged more than 1,100 loans each week nationally, supporting a weekly average of more than $728 million.

“SBA lending is alive and very healthy in eastern Pennsylvania and across the nation,” said SBA Philadelphia District Director Dave Dickson. “The increase in SBA lending in eastern Pennsylvania since the onset of economic turmoil in 2009 is a startling reminder to me that the access to capital that SBA lending programs provide to the small business community is absolutely crucial to its recovery.”

The SBA is an independent federal agency, created in 1953, to assist small businesses start, grow, and prosper. For information on the SBA’s programs and services call 610-382-3062 or visit www.sba.gov.